Drivers of individual human productivity

[spadeaspade]

The Context : For-profit business organization

What makes an individual human be productive? The list will include both cause-drivers(motive) and effect-drivers(purpose).

The basic are :

1. Willingness

2. Ability

There can be n factors influencing both

1. Willingness

Individual interest/liking

Survival

Profit/Reward for long-term sustenance

Influence of others (parents,teachers,friends etc)

Mental set-up - the whole gamut of emotions(or any of them)

2. Ability

Training in a particular activity

Physical fitness

Skills for the activity

3. Other

Knowledge and Information

Environment conditions

Culture

Do the above factors influence productivity of an individal? I would like comments on the above as well as any additions to the list.

Also, is happiness both an effect and cause of productivity? Is it true that 'a happy individual is more procuctive than an unhappy individual'? Or is it that 'an individual is happy because he is productive'? Or are both true? i.e. can the happiness experienced as an effect of one activity be the cause of the next?

[spadeaspade]

Moderators, is this thread in the wrong place? Could it be better somewhere else?

Or simply, no takers?

Edited December 20, 2006 by spadeaspade

[DavidOdden]

Moderators, is this thread in the wrong place? Could it be better somewhere else?

I doubt that the specific sub-forum makes that much difference. I don't understand the question you're posting or claim that you're making. The question "what makes people productive" is too broad. Perhaps, start by answering this question to yourself -- "Why do I care what makes people productive?" Phases of the moon influence productivity, if you're dealing with people who believe that they are more (or less) productive during a full moon. Are you interested in productivity generally, or productivity of rational people?

[spadeaspade]

I doubt that the specific sub-forum makes that much difference. I don't understand the question you're posting or claim that you're making. The question "what makes people productive" is too broad. Perhaps, start by answering this question to yourself -- "Why do I care what makes people productive?" Phases of the moon influence productivity, if you're dealing with people who believe that they are more (or less) productive during a full moon. Are you interested in productivity generally, or productivity of rational people?

I don't understand what you mean by productivity generally. Isn't Productivity itself rational, in the sense that, whoever decides to be productive is rational, no matter what he 'believes' his drivers for the same are? So no matter what some people 'believe' the drivers for their productivity are, the actual drivers are something else and these are objective. Ok, I am clearing the context a little more. I want to know what makes people productive is because productivity is what sustains organizations in the long-term; it adds to the bottomline of a for-profit organization and helps keep it black ie it is productivity that keeps the organization from going into the red and not only that, but it also helps it grow.

My observations were that some people are more productive than others and they subsidize the non-productivity of others in an orgaizational set-up. Now, if only a few productive people contribute to the bottomline, and the bottomline is in the +ve, it surely will grow exponentially if more people became productive. So, if one wants more people to be productive, one needs to understand what drives productivity. If these reasons/drivers are shown or told to the non-productive people, they could be inspired to be more productive and thus the organization prospers. As you have pointed out, there are some people who might not know the actual drivers and knowing these can help them be more productive.

Anyway, the main discussion topic is not why I want to know about the drivers. The topic is 'what are the drivers'. But yes, maybe why I want to know might shed some light. So here you are. Is this clarification ok or still not good enough?